Gait Trainer

We had a development a few weeks ago, we had a new PT (Debbie) assigned to us from the county to complete an evaluation for his school paperwork. At first I was reluctant to have another therapist brought in, however, she was very seasoned and open minded to the things we'd been doing in ABM. I appreciated her fresh perspective for the evaluation. She brought a new idea to us that we hadn't yet considered... putting Lucas in a gait trainer. Equipment doesn't really correlate to the methods of ABM, however, we are viewing this not as a way to learn to walk, but to give him mobility and social development.

A gait trainer is like a baby walker, but much more industrial and sophisticated. The idea is that it would support him upright and enable him to be mobile for the first time. Eventually the idea is to take support away as he learns to move himself, and it can turn into a walker, if he gets to a point where he can do more of the work himself, but still needs some support. I wasn't warm to the equipment idea at first, it took me awhile to come around to it, but Debbie was very thorough in explaining what it can give him by giving him mobility she sent me videos and testimonials from families that live nearby. These examples were pretty compelling, their kids couldn't get around at all, but once they got the hang of the trainer, they could move about the house and playground and explore their environment like 2-year-olds are supposed to do!

She invited us to the county facility to try out a few gait trainers, they have several new ones that have been donated by the manufacturer. It was nice to try him out in different sizes and brands to compare features and see which one was the best fit. We are borrowing it for a few months to see if he can get the hang of moving it. We can then submit to insurance to purchase one if we decide this will be a long-term thing. He did well initially, it was bittersweet watching him... on one hand I HATE that we are having to consider equipment, but it was wonderful to see him upright and taking some baby steps towards mobility. We are going to keep Debbie on every week for the next few months until he officially transitions to school in April, so she can monitor his progress and adjust the equipment. We'll see how it goes, we are optimistic!We tried out two types...see the difference in the wheels below. The bigger wheels is more "all terrain" but the blue one with the smaller wheels will be easier to use around the house, so this is the one we chose. We also determined he fit better in the with the smaller wheels (see how his legs are positioned further apart in the blue one, this is better for him since his hamstrings pull his legs close together).

Lucas figured out that he could move the wheel with his hand... not the result we want but he thought it was fun Check out that smile!

Here's a video of his first time in the Rifton (blue), this is the type we chose to borrow